CHAIRPERSON
Assoc Prof Michael Feener, Asia Research Institute and Department of History, National University of Singapore.
ABSTRACT
The Battle of Raichur (1520) was the site of an extraordinary confluence of forces — technological, ideological, and diplomatic — in early 16th century India. This battle’s astonishing and quite counter-intuitive outcome probably explains its virtual absence in the pages of recorded history. Nonetheless, this battle permanently transformed the balance of power in the Indian subcontinent. An examination of its causes and consequences also challenges us to rethink conventional stereotypes about relations between Europe and Asia in the early modern era.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Richard Eaton is Professor of History at the University of Arizona. His research interests focus on the social and cultural history of pre-modern India (1000-1800), and especially on the range of historical interactions between Iran and India, and on Islam in South Asia generally. He has published monographs on the social roles of Sufis in the Indian sultanate of Bijapur (1300-1700), on the growth of Islam in Bengal (1204-1760), and on the social history of the Deccan from 1300 to 1761. Most recently, he has co-authored a monograph entitled Power, Memory, Architecture: Contested Sites on India’s Deccan Plateau, 1300-1600. These four historical monographs employ as analytical tools, respectively, Weberian social thought, Annales School methodology, biography, and architecture. He is currently drafting the second volume of the new Penguin History of India.
REGISTRATION
Admission is free. We would greatly appreciate if you RSVP Mr Jonathan Lee via email: jonathan.lee@nus.edu.sg
